Vol 58 No 25

Contenders for the ANC presidency are scrapping for every single delegate vote with all the means at their disposal

The epic struggle between Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and current Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa for the leadership – some say the soul – of the governing African National Congress will be decided between 16 and 20 December in the Nasrec stadium outside Soweto. Sporting analogies cannot capture the ferocity of the contest, as both sides attract charges of using bribery and threats to sway the 5,240 delegates to their side. The numbers stubbornly refuse to show any clear favourite.

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his ministers talk of economic transformation and a life beyond aid as business grumbles

It was a sea of white linen and handkerchiefs at a thanksgiving service in Accra on 8 December to mark the first anniversary of the 2016 election victory by Ghana's New Patriotic P...

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THE INSIDE VIEW

After this year’s cliff-hangers in Kenya,
South Africa and Zimbabwe, some may have expected a
brief respite from political drama in 2018. No chance. At least eight
countries are due to hold national elections next year.

The most strongly contested elections will be in Madagascar, Sierra Le...

After this year’s cliff-hangers in Kenya,
South Africa and Zimbabwe, some may have expected a
brief respite from political drama in 2018. No chance. At least eight
countries are due to hold national elections next year.

The most strongly contested elections will be in Madagascar, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. Of the
three, Sierra Leone is the least predictable: Samura Kamara, presidential
candidate for the governing All People’s Congress Party, will struggle
to defend his party’s record. His main opponent is former military
leader Julius Maada Bio,
standing on the Sierra Leone People’s Party ticket, and the impressive
ex-United Nations official Kandeh
Yumkella. In Madagascar, two veteran political gladiators –
yoghurt king Marc Ravalomanana
and former DJ Andry Rajoelina
– will face off against the incumbent Hery
Rajaonarimampianina.

Civic activists and oppositionists are hoping for freer and fairer
elections in Zimbabwe after President Robert
Mugabe’s forced exit last month. Successor Emmerson Mnangagwa is sending mixed
signals: after promising a new democratic era, he is bringing his
military allies centre-stage. However, the opposition is betting that
the ruling party is less likely to bludgeon its foes out of the
election. Even the old methods of vote fixing should prove more
difficult under the new electoral rules.

Elsewhere, elections in Cameroon,
Egypt, Mali, South Sudan all look set to return
the incumbent to power.